M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)

Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing

GRAHAME-WHITE Military biplane Type XI

J.D. North designed a new aircraft, which was first seen at Olympia in March 1914, unflown. It was tested at Hendon on 9 May 1914 by Louis Noel, but was reported to be nose heavy, requiring a longer tail and larger tail surfaces. The location of the cockpits for carrying a gun also needed to be reversed. It is believed that the machine was soon abandoned.The Type XI was a typical pusher biplane of the period, with two bay wings of near equal span. The tail booms tapered in plan and were readily detachable for transport. The rudder was balanced, and a small fin was mounted above the tailplane, which carried divided elevators. Ailerons were fitted to top and bottom wings and were connected by balance cables.The engine bay was covered by metal cowling panels, cooling being effected by leaving the underside exposed. The engine itself was mounted low down and drove the propeller on a separate shaft mounted above.

P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)

Grahame-White Type 11 Warplane

The Warplane of 1914 was another of J. D. North's designs for Grahame-White, and was on the company's stand at the 1914 Olympia Aero Show. A handsome two-seat pusher biplane, it was powered by the 100 h.p. Monosoupape Gnome engine, turning a four-bladed Integral propeller made by butt-jointing two two-bladed propellers together. Two-bay wings were fitted, their outer panels incorporating slight sweep-back. Large ailerons connected by cables were used, the outer interplane struts being set closer together than the inner pair. The engine was fully cowled at the rear of the covered nacelle, in which the gunner occupied the front seat. Four steel-tubing booms carried the tail unit, which consisted of a tailplane and elevators and a well-rounded rudder pivoted between the upper and lower booms. Tests were made with the addition of a slim fixed fin above the horizontal tail. The undercarriage was a very sturdy unit of three main legs with the wheels mounted on a transverse axle, a sprung tailskid supporting the rear. The Warplane was designed to be easily converted into a seaplane. The first tests were carried out at Hendon by Louis Noel during May, 1914, with the pilot occupying the front cockpit for the purpose of the trials. Owing to the rather short tail moment arm, longitudinal stability was not found to be particularly good and, despite its advanced features, fine appearance and clean design for its period, the Warplane was not a success and did not go into production.

H.King Armament of British Aircraft (Putnam)

Scout Type Pusher (Type 11). To J. D. North's design in 1914 Grahame-White produced this two-seater, which has a minor place here because it was seriously intended as a "gun machine", although armament never materialised. It was announced that for tests the pilot would be in front, the positions being reversed for the gun.

Журнал Flight

Flight, March 14, 1914.

WHAT THERE WILL BE TO SEE AT OLYMPIA.

THE EXHIBITS.

Grahame-White (Grahame-White Aviation Co.). (40.)

ON the stand of the Grahame-White Avation Co., Ltd., will be shown two biplanes, one of which is already known to our readers through descriptions in the columns of FLIGHT, i.e., the five-seater biplane which established a record by carrying ten passengers at Hendon. This machine will be all-British, as it will be fitted with a 100 h.p. Green engine. The other biplane will be of the pusher type fitted with one of the new Gnome 100 h.p. monosoupape engines. Several highly interesting constructional details have been incorporated in this machine, whilst the general arrangement is such as to make it specially suitable for military purposes. The machine, as shown, will be fitted with a land chassis, but a different form of chassis having floats instead of wheels can be easily and quickly fitted, thus turning the machine into a waterplane. The seats are arranged in tandem, the pilot occupying the front seat, and arranged comfortably inside the very wide nacelle. The method of mounting the engine and propeller is very ingenious, as are also numerous other details, so that a visit to this stand should prove highly interesting and instructive.

Flight, March 28, 1914.

THE OLYMPIA EXHIBITION.

THE EXHIBITS.

GRAHAME-WHITE. (GRAHAME-WHITE AVIATION CO., LTD.)

ON this stand were shown a complete two-seater biplane and the central portion of the Grahame-White five-seater biplane which established a record at Hendon by carrying ten passengers. The 100 h p. Naval and Military Biplane is shown to the public for the first time. It is a biplane of the "pusher" type and derives its name from the fact that the land chassis with which it is fitted at the Show can be easily and quickly replaced by a float chassis, thus converting it into a seaplane. The engine, a 100 h.p. Gnome monosoupape, is mounted between double bearings, and drives through a chain and sprocket gearing a large diameter four-bladed propeller, geared down in the ratio of 14/23. The tanks have a capacity of 45 gallons of petrol and 9 gallons of oil, or sufficient for a flight of about 5 hours' duration. The nacelle is built up of longerons of ash with struts and cross members of spruce, ash, hickory and steel. The rear portion of the nacelle covered with an aluminium shield, which almost totally encloses the engine, whilst the remainder of the nacelle is covered with fabric. The pilot's and passenger's seats are arranged tandem fashion, the pilot occupying the front seat. They are built up of steel tubes, wicker covered, and slung from the longerons of the nacelle by steel wires. Control is by means of a single central column and a foot bar. The column terminates in a convenient grip or handle, on which are mounted the two switches, the main switch and the cut-out switch. The chassis is of a very simple type, and is built of streamline steel tubes, running from three points on the nacelle, converging towards the wheel axle, which works in a slot in the upright chassis strut. Springing is by means of rubber cord, and is further enhanced by the fitting of large size tyres to the disc wheels. The main planes are chiefly remarkable on account of the backward slope of their outer portion. Both upper and lower main planes are fitted with ailerons, which, owing to the backward slope of the trailing edge, have the same effect, to a certain extent, as a warping wing. Two pairs of spruce struts on each side separate the main planes. These struts are very wide and comparatively thin, and are of an excellent streamline section. The tail planes are carried on an outrigger formed by four tail booms of wood, which form a V as seen in plan. The method of attaching these tail booms to the rear spars is very ingenious, and is illustrated by one of the accompanying sketches. It will be seen that they can be very quickly and easily dismantled, thus reducing the overall length of the machine for the purpose of storage or transport. The stabilising plane is semicircular, and carries at its rear edge the divided elevator, whilst pivoted on the rearmost upright tail boom strut is the balanced rudder. A small vertical fin is mounted above the stabilising plane in order to counteract the side area of the nacelle, but one would venture to suggest that lengthening the tail booms, thus taking the tail planes a little further away from the propeller, would add to what might be termed the spiral stability of the machine. A laminated steel skid protects the tail planes. The workmanship shown in this machine is of the very highest quality, and is, we think, even better than in any of the machine hitherto turned out by this firm. Altogether the machine appeals to be a thoroughly sound job, and is a credit to its designer. Mr. J. D. North, and to the high standard of workmanship of the Grahame-White Aviation Co.

Flight, May 22, 1914.

THE AERIAL DERBY.

THE PILOTS AND HOW TO RECOGNISE THE MACHINES.

No. 11. The 100 h.p. Grahame-White Biplane. This machine will be somewhat difficult to distinguish from the Henry Farman if flying at a great altitude, but differs from the latter in that iеs chassis has no skids.

THE MACHINES AND HOW TO RECOGNISE THEM.

No. 11. The 100 h.p. Grabame-White Military Biplane is the machine exhibited at the last Olympia Aero Show. As it has not yet been thoroughly tried, there is the possibility that Mr. Louis Noel will change this machine at the last moment for an 80 h.p. Morane, in which case the total number of Moranes flying in the race will be five. The military biplane is mainly characteristic on account of the main planes, of which the outer portion is slightly swept back. The nacelle is also of a somewhat peculiar shape, being, so to speak, of streamline form flying with the pointed end foremost. The engine, a 100 h.p. Gnome, monosoupape, is totally enclosed by an aluminium shield. The landing chassis is of a simpler type than one usually finds in biplanes of the "pusher" type, and is somewhat similar to the chassis of the Morane-Saulnier monoplane.

Flight, November 5, 1915.

CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS.-IX.

The third undercarriage on this page is that of the Grahame White "pusher" biplane. It is of a similar type as the other two, but has, it will be seen, three struts on each side instead of two.

This photograph gives a good idea of the general arrangement of the new Grahame-White military biplane. At present the pilot occupies the front seat, but when the machine has been put through its experimental tests it is intended to reverse the positions of the pilot and passenger so as to allow of mounting a gun in the nose of the nacelle.